Mac games overpriced?

[Shadowspirit6]

I looked online at Bestbuy and I saw Call of Duty 2 for $39.99. For the Mac version of Call of Duty 2 it costs $49.95, a $10 dollar difference. Doom 3 was being sold at $19.99 at Bestbuy also, but at Apple its being sold at $49.95, nearly a $30 dollar difference. One more game, The Sims 2 at $39.99 at numersous stores , then at Apple it costs again a $49.95 price tag. I don't know what the extra dollars are for but maby its for quality, compatible with Intel, or just because its on mac?)

Do you think Apple's price tag on games are fair or maby a bit overpriced?

[PlaceofDis]

apple doesn't make the price for games.

the companies who port them do. and yes its justified some of the time. most games take longer to get to OS X because they have to be ported. this process and selling less games is what causes the price to increase.

[dmw007]

Games for Mac OS tend to be overpriced, not that it is Apple's fault. :)

[Chaszmyr]

Mac Games cost more because of additional R&D costs to make a Mac version. I'd rather pay an extra $20 than not have the game.

[Unorthodox]

They have to charge more because they don't sell as many.

[dmw007]

Mac Games cost more because of additional R&D costs to make a Mac version. I'd rather pay an extra $20 than not have the game.

Same here Chaszmyr. :)



That, or be forced to play it on Windoze. :rolleyes: :D

[Chaszmyr]

That, or be forced to play it on Windoze. :rolleyes: :D


I'd pay a lot more than $20 to avoid using Windows :p

[dmw007]

I'd pay a lot more than $20 to avoid using Windows :p

True, so would I. :D

[Eric5h5]

Do you think Apple's price tag on games are fair or maby a bit overpriced?

Overpriced in terms of what the publishers (not Apple) set it at in an attempt to make some sort of profit, no. Smaller market + extra cost to port = higher price...simple. No conspiracies to rip off Mac gamers, sorry. ;)

--Eric

[KingYaba]

We apple enthusiests are dumb enough to pay crazy prices for our compturs. so why not the same for our software?

[dmw007]

We apple enthusiests are dumb enough to pay crazy prices for our compturs. so why not the same for our software?

Not sure that I agree with that statement, I don't really think that Apple's computers are that overpriced. :o :)

[steelfist]

the porting companies don't port for free, just to let you know.

[Soulstorm]

as long as people will have to pay oany amount of money to get what they want, they will always find mac games overpriced. It's just the way people think.

Apple has nothing to do with this, of course.

I think that mac games are NOT overpriced. If you think about the time devoted to porting the game and supporting it, you will see that there is no other way than that of increased price. In all this, you should add the fact that mac gamers are much less than the PC ones, so for each game ported, companies are bound to make less money than the original PC port.

So, they still need to raise the price of each copy sold.

[Gasu E.]

Mac Games cost more because of additional R&D costs to make a Mac version. I'd rather pay an extra $20 than not have the game.

Agree.

[Gasu E.]

Interesting...

Number of people who wrote replies saying "not over-priced": 9
Number of people who voted "not over-priced": 11
Number of people who wrote replies saying "over-priced": 0
Number of people who voted "over-priced": 13

[Patch^]

the porting companies don't port for free, just to let you know.

Yea I think this is probably the main reason with the price difference, Companies like Aspyr get a commission for every game they port.

[slackersonly]

my frustration is not the initial price but that the prices seem to stay close to that price for a very very long time.
with games on other platforms (windows, gamecube, playstation, etc), all but the top top games see significant price reduction over its life.
mac games dont seem to go the same path.

[mechamac]

You have to shop around. F'r instance, Amazon wants to sell me Sims 2 for $45. Gogamer wants to sell me the same game for $30, plus anywhere from $2-to-whatever in shipping. That's the same or better as the PC price. Amazon is selling Quake 4 (mac) for $40 and the PC game is $30. Not a huge difference, especially with free shipping.

Mac games are slightly more expensive, but hardly by much these days.

[TEG]

The is one reason why I say that Mac games are NOT overpriced... They are newer than their PC counterparts. Most Mac games come out 6 months to one year after the PC version. Therefore it is not surprising that they would still be at the same price point those PC games mentioned were 6 months ago.

I really is not because they will sell less, it is just the game being newer.

TEG

[mechamac]

I should add too that even with this Boot Camp stuff I'd much rather support Mac software and pay a "no reboot to XP" tax on games in the form of slightly higher Mac game prices. People buying Mac games (and companies making good ports of good games!) is the only way we'll ever see a bigger, cheaper Mac game market.

[bousozoku]

Mac Games cost more because of additional R&D costs to make a Mac version. I'd rather pay an extra $20 than not have the game.

That's the thing. It costs more so we have to pay more. In a few cases, I've seen dual Windows/Mac packaged items like Myst III/IV/V repackaged as Mac only and higher priced that the Windows only or the dual package.

We apple enthusiests are dumb enough to pay crazy prices for our compturs. so why not the same for our software?

Dumb? I find good components to not be a dumb choice. You can buy computers for less and you pay the price in reliability almost always.

[BoyBach]

Absolutely:

Civilization 4 on the PC = £17.97 at amazon.co.uk
Civilization 4 for the Mac = £39.99 at amazon.co.uk (over £20 more!) :mad:

[LethalWolfe]

We apple enthusiests are dumb enough to pay crazy prices for our compturs. so why not the same for our software?

Generally speaking Mac prices are comparable to similarly spec'd PCs, and in the case of the new Mac Pro towers the Macs are cheaper, AFAIK. Apple's pricing of their software (obviously they have no control over what other companies charge for software) is pretty dang cheap. Finding software that rivals the price/performance of iLife or the Final Cut suite is just about impossible.


Lethal

[thegreatluke]

Absolutely:

Civilization 4 on the PC = £17.97 at amazon.co.uk
Civilization 4 for the Mac = £39.99 at amazon.co.uk (over £20 more!) :mad:
Go port me Civ IV: Warlords to Mac OS X and see how much time and money and effort it costs. And then you have the choice to price it at $25 or $30 or $35 where you wouldn't make a profit until $35... which one would you choose?

I agree Mac games cost more than their PC brothers, but it's because of the increased cost and effort and time to port. There aren't any conspiracies to steal Mac users' money away.

[BoyBach]

Go port me Civ IV: Warlords to Mac OS X and see how much time and money and effort it costs. And then you have the choice to price it at $25 or $30 or $35 where you wouldn't make a profit until $35... which one would you choose?

I agree Mac games cost more than their PC brothers, but it's because of the increased cost and effort and time to port. There aren't any conspiracies to steal Mac users' money away.


Not necessarily. I've got Football Manager 2006 for my Mac and it cost less than a tenner (£), plus that game disc will play on both a Mac and PC.

[benpatient]

the VAST majority of the money necessary to create a game is spent up front on the research and development...artwork, storylines, playtesting, etc.

Porting is a science and people who are in that business are good at it. They don't spend millions of dollars porting over Doom 3 or Civ4. They charge $50 for a game that came out on PC 2 years ago because mac gamers are desperate for more games.